Could Distributed Peer Review Better Decide Grant Funding?
The landscape of academic grant funding is notoriously competitive and plagued by lengthy, bureaucratic processes, exacerbated by difficulties in finding willing reviewers. Distributed […]
The Politics of Dissent
Recently, The Independent published a brief piece on the ‘slave-like’ working conditions of PhD students at UK universities. This sounds dramatic, but it’s hardly news – the problem has been around for years. The question arises why dissent did not emerge earlier and more forcefully.
Political Science Serving the Public Interest
On May 9, the House of Representatives adopted a provision that would preclude the National Science Foundation (NSF) from supporting research in the field of political science.
Teaching Internet Ethics
Apparently Luka Rocco Magnotta made videos of himself killing cats and eating parts of his murdered victim, making the videos available online. […]
SAGE opposes the Flake Amendment
Recently, the US House of Representatives passed off an amendment offered by Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) that would prohibit funding for the Political Science Program with the National Science Foundation. If enacted into law, this amendment would set an extraordinary and disturbing precedent in which Congress chooses which scientific disciplines should be funded and not funded within the NSF’s research portfolio.
Growing Old: Something to Fear or Celebrate?
We have just witnessed a long weekend full of remarkable imagery celebrating longevity. However, media images of later life normally take two extremes – adverts […]
“Treated like imbeciles”
While parts of Aditya Chakrabortty’s recent piece in the Guardian were sensible and informed, its central claim was unfair – that social science disciplines have been unable or unwilling to explore, explain, and confront the ‘Great Financial Crash’ of 2007-9
Open Access – but not for authors
Open Access to academic journal papers is a hot button issue. The UK government is in favour, along with major UK research […]
Have the Social Sciences Failed Us?
On 16 April, Aditya Chakrabortty wrote an article for the Guardian’s Comment is Free, arguing that social scientists have failed to step up and offer alternatives in the wake of the economic crisis. Here, Andrew Gamble FBA responds.
